An anti-Roy Moore ad is misinforming Alabama voters about their anonymity in the voting booth, Secretary of State John Merrill says.

Merrill’s office on Tuesday released a statement on an ad representing a “targeted effort to misinform and confuse voters.”

The ad spot features a voiceover and a “Stand Against Roy Moore” graphic. The ad is financed by political action committee Highway 31, a pro-Doug Jones PAC, and is unaffiliated with either campaign.

“Your vote is public record, and your community will know whether or not you helped stop Roy Moore,” the online ad says.

“No individual voting record is made available to anyone at anytime, including the voter who cast the ballot,” said the Secretary of State’s statement. “When voters cast a ballot the State of Alabama’s voter registration system is updated to document the election that a voter participated in but no record is ever made documenting the candidate for whom the ballot was cast.”

When asked if Highway 31 has any plans to alter or change the language in the ad following Merrill’s statement, a spokesperson provided this emailed statement to the Advertiser.

“The Secretary of State is distorting the intent of the ad,” a Highway 31 spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Whether or not someone votes is public knowledge. The ad is not improper. Standing up and voting against Roy Moore on Dec. 12 is critically important to the future of our state and we are going to make sure all Alabamians know that.”

On Dec. 1, Montgomery Advertiser attorneys sent Highway 31 a cease-and-desist letter regarding a direct mail advertisement featuring the Advertiser’s name in a mock masthead design at the top of the advertisement.

Several people who received the ad were led to believe the Advertiser produced it.

“The use of our name was unnecessary and misleading,” Montgomery Advertiser Executive Editor Bro Krift said.

The ad quotes four news interviews from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Examiner and Sean Hannity’s Fox News show. All quotes include the date of the original interview or footnoted citations at the bottom of the ad.

The Montgomery Advertiser header, which includes the headline “Woman alleges Moore attack,” is not dated or cited. The same headline led the Tuesday, Nov. 14 edition of the Montgomery Advertiser.

“Your actions are intentionally confusing members of the public concerning the source of the ad, as well as concerning who owns the newspaper,” attorney J. Evans Bailey writes in the Dec. 1 letter. “Indeed, while the ‘Montgomery Advertiser’ appears at the top of the advertisement in large bold font, the names of other publications, cited as sources for other contentions in the ad, appear in footnotes, in small print, at the bottom of the ad. There are no similar footnoted citatons referencing ‘The Montgomery Advertiser.’ This leaves the impression that ‘The Montgomery Advertiser’ produced the ad and then cited other publications as sources.”

Highway 31 has not yet returned request for comment regarding the direct mail ad.

The Post reports Highway 31 is "legally evading Federal Election Commission disclosure rules" to hide the identities of its donors.

The PAC has spent some $2 million to date on television, digital and direct mail ads but did not accept donations before Nov. 22, the FEC deadline for pre-election donor reports. Final expense reports are due by Jan. 21.